[Mic]

Does a fabric or possibly elastomer exist that acts in a fashion similar to the human skin pours?
E.G
A heat source positioned at one side of the fabric/elastomer sheet that when the sheet becomes 'warm' opens its pours to allow heat to pass through it?

On either a micro level or even a level that the human eye could see?


Im doing some conceptual work for a project but want it to have a realism to it. The easiest way to describe it would be a hot water bottle that only releases heat when its cold, so the shell opens it pours or closes its pours when needed.

[Arkcon]

Well, first off, I was really confused with this talk of human skin pours -- you meant pores.

I don't believe human pores open wider to release heat.  At any rate, skin is a complex organ, with glands to produce sweat from the circulating blood, under control of the nervous system.  That's a little far out there for a hot water bottle.

[Mic]

Maybe i shouldnt have mentioned skin, i thought it might be able to get across the notion of pores a little better

[fledarmus]

I think pores is the wrong concept for transferring heat. Heat is form of energy; it doesn't usually flow through the gaps in an object but through the solid part of the object. Solids and liquids in general are more efficient at transferring heat than gases.

What pores can do is allow warm gases or liquids to flow to cooler areas and use that mechanism for transferring heat. This is how skin works - the pores open up to allow water to flow from inside the body to outside the body, removing some of the body heat. This also forms a layer of water on the surface of the skin which then evaporates, removing heat from the solid portion of the skin and cooling the surface further. This combination of removing heat from inside the body by transfer in a liquid medium, combined with removing heat from the surface of the body by evaporation is how sweat cooling works.

There are a number of natural and synthetic fabrics that work the same way. They wick water from the surface of the skin which is hot, out to the surface of the fabric, where it evaporates and cools the fabric. These have been widely used in sports clothing, where they can keep you warm when you are not exercising, but don't allow the buildup of heat between your skin and your clothing when you are exercising.

[Mic]

I think pores is the wrong concept for transferring heat. Heat is form of energy; it doesn't usually flow through the gaps in an object but through the solid part of the object. Solids and liquids in general are more efficient at transferring heat than gases.

What pores can do is allow warm gases or liquids to flow to cooler areas and use that mechanism for transferring heat. This is how skin works - the pores open up to allow water to flow from inside the body to outside the body, removing some of the body heat. This also forms a layer of water on the surface of the skin which then evaporates, removing heat from the solid portion of the skin and cooling the surface further. This combination of removing heat from inside the body by transfer in a liquid medium, combined with removing heat from the surface of the body by evaporation is how sweat cooling works.

There are a number of natural and synthetic fabrics that work the same way. They wick water from the surface of the skin which is hot, out to the surface of the fabric, where it evaporates and cools the fabric. These have been widely used in sports clothing, where they can keep you warm when you are not exercising, but don't allow the buildup of heat between your skin and your clothing when you are exercising.

Thank you for the reply.

Im looking at this in the wrong way clearly.
The excercise clothing is a good benchmark into what Im looking at in its temperature management.

Conceptually then, Im looking at an active 'mechanical' system rather than a fabric that could allow hot water to flow to the surface of a hot water bottle, but not onto the surface, like skin.